US–Iran ceasefire in final week – what’s next after talks collapse?

Trump administration’s red lines and political calculations. He explains how the president’s insistence that “Iran will not have a nuclear weapon” collides with a deep reluctance to be drawn into a long, messy negotiation that could mirror – or exceed – the two‑year process that produced the 2015 nuclear deal. Alan explores the tension between an expectation in Washington that Iran should now “capitulate”, and an Iranian view that it has not been defeated, will not surrender sovereign rights and wants to bargain rather than accept a take‑it‑or‑leave‑it demand to terminate its nuclear programme forever.